Chance Meeting at the Ink Pot
by Healer Teddylonglong
All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.
I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes.
COMPLETELY AU! Partly OOC!
It is my story, and I intend to write it the way I want it. If you don't like it, don't read it.
Reviews are very welcome, as they inspire my muse.
A.N.: Someone pointed out that Mami meant Mum in German. Whist in Japanese, it is just a normal name, my German me chose the name intentionally, even if just for myself and those who understand German, as I imagine Mami as someone who wants to be something like a mother for her students - in contrary to McGonagall, who, in spite of telling the first-years that their house was their family, keeps fairly distant to the students.
"Severus Snape is my father, but he's the Potions professor here now," Sirius replied quietly. "That's why I ended up here as well. Why did you come here instead of going to Hogwarts in three years' time?"
The girl, who had introduced herself as Mandy Brocklehurst, smiled. "My parents are friends with Professor Ito, the Healing Professor. He told them so much about this school that my parents decided to send me here."
Professor Abe's voice pulled Sirius out of his conversation with Mandy. "Please make yourselves comfortable in your rooms; we'll meet here again in one hour, so I can take you to the Planetarium for lunch."
Sirius was glad that he shared the room with Kenji. They had already become good friends during the last week. Absentmindedly noticing that Kazumi pulled Mandy along, he followed Kenji to the room they had been assigned.
"Wow, this is a cool room," he blurted out in amazement.
"It surely is," Kenji smirked. "Mum redecorated all the first years' rooms, and I helped her design it."
"Wow, well done," Sirius acknowledged in awe. The room held two beds on opposite sides of the room. Each of them had a bookshelf at one side and a wardrobe at the other. Two desks were placed back to back in the middle of the room. Charmed windows covered the short wall of the room, opposite the door. The whole room was decorated in white and different shades of blue that matched the ceiling, which was slightly rounded and charmed to display the sky with thousands of stars. Like in the Planetarium, it was charmed to adjust to the light of the sky outside.
Kenji laughed at Sirius' apparent amazement. "Well, if you're finished staring, we had better unpack," he suggested and pulled his trunk over to one side of the room.
"Ah, all right," Sirius replied and quickly followed the other boy's example.
They were just finished unpacking, when they heard a knock at the door and Kazumi entered the room with Mandy in tow. The four children chatted for a while, until Kenji looked at his watch and realised that it was time for lunch.
'Thank Merlin; I'm hungry,' Sirius thought. 'It's strange how much I got used to getting regular meals during the last few months. At the Dursleys, I often went without anything to eat for several days.'
本屋さんでの偶然の出会い
The four children soon became good friends. Although they were on good terms with all their classmates, the four of them were always together except for the Japanese language classes that Mandy and Sirius had to attend. The two girls took the chairs from their own room into the boys' room, and the quartet used to study together in the boys' room.
As fluent as the twins were in English, Mandy and Sirius asked them to speak Japanese whenever possible, so that they'd get as much practice and catch up as fast as possible.
'I can't wait to be able to properly attend classes,' Sirius thought. For the moment, Professor Abe had to cast a spell on them each morning, so that they were able to follow their classes.
For the first years, curfew was at eight o'clock, on Fridays and Saturdays one hour later, and by curfew they absolutely had to be in their rooms; otherwise, class points would be taken.
"Our school never had a points system," Kenji informed Sirius. "Your father told my parents about the House point system at his former school, and they liked it so much that they introduced it right away. We should try to win the cup at the end of the school year against all the older students."
After curfew, they still had thirty minutes until lights out. Sirius always hurried to get ready for bed and then spent the last few minutes before Professor Abe would come to check on them and spell the lights out writing a few lines to Minerva, Poppy and, if he still had time, to his father. By the time he woke up in the morning, there were always replies from all three adults.
本屋さんでの偶然の出会い
Severus became used to being at the Mirai school as quickly as Sirius. Cicero had arranged his quarters, his lab, his office and even his classroom in the same way as they had been at Hogwarts. The students seemed to be more eager to learn than those at Hogwarts, and it was less unnerving to teach them. The only annoying point in his current life was the fact that Headmaster Abe had to cast a charm on him that enabled him to speak and understand Japanese every morning. Every day after his classes, Severus attended the Japanese language class together with his son and a few other first years, and he could not wait to finally master the language.
'The only positive about the Japanese classes is that I get the chance to meet Sirius out of the Potions class each day,' he thought, feeling very relieved that Sirius seemed to have adjusted to his new life as well as himself.
Just like his son, Severus used the wiz2wiz connection parchments every night and often led longer conversations with Minerva or Poppy, and, as nice as his new colleagues were, he had to admit to himself that he was missing his two former colleagues, whom he had known since he was eleven and a first year student at Hogwarts.
It was on a Saturday evening at the end of May that he received a message from Minerva that he had been anticipating for a while.
'Good evening, Severus,
Harry Potter seems to have vanished from the Dursleys' home. Albus is devastated. He was planning to begin teaching the boy from the start of the summer holidays onwards. I'd say he is a bit late. I hope you and Sirius are well!
Minerva'
Severus read the message with mixed feelings. 'Thank Merlin that Sirius is safe here in Japan,' he thought, congratulating himself that the fake copy he had produced from the boy five months ago had lasted for a sufficiently long time. 'Nevertheless, Albus is going to make a ruckus over this.'
Turning back to the parchment, he wrote a note back to the Scottish lioness.
'Minerva,
Thank you for sharing this information. I hope Albus won't suspect me of having anything to do with Potter's disappearance. Considering that he doesn't know how far away Sirius and I are it might be possible.'
The answer arrived right away.
'Severus, I don't think so. If it was the case, Poppy and I could reassure him that you're far away, and in the worst case you can even prove that you haven't been in England since the day before Sirius' birthday. Don't worry. I'll keep you informed anyway.
By the way, Sirius told me yesterday that he received two points in his Healing class for performing a spell Poppy taught him at Hogwarts. He really is a sweet child.
Minerva'
Not sure if Minerva had informed Sirius as well, Severus decided to send his son as short message as well.
'Sirius,
Just so you know, the fake copy vanished yesterday. I'm glad we got here in time.
Congratulations to your two points in Healing class by the way. I'm proud of you.
SS'
Sirius woke up by the incoming message and sleepily searched for his quill to write back.
'Dad,
You're brilliant. I'm glad for the fake. He surely didn't have a good time with the Dursleys, they are really horrible. The two points I received for an easy diagnostic spell Aunt Poppy taught me earlier. Love you, Dad.
Sirius'
It was a strange feeling that the beginning of the summer holidays did not mean the end of the school year. However, everyone was looking forward to the holidays, and Severus realised in surprise that the students were allowed to go home for the four weeks of holidays but could also choose to remain at the school for some of the time, or even for the whole time.
"Many students stay here until they finish their summer assignments, and some of them even offer to help the teachers in order to get additional practice," Healer Ito, with whom Severus had to work together closely, informed the Potions Master, leaving Severus very thoughtful.
When one day Mami Abe asked him if he was an Animagus and could perhaps teach a few older students, Severus had an idea. "I don't think I'm able to teach the Animagus Transformation; however, a good friend of mine is teaching Transfiguration at Hogwarts, and I could invite her to come here and hold an Animagus class during the summer."
"Severus, that's a very good idea," Mami said warmly. "Please ask your friend right away, and if he or she agrees, we'll send an official invitation."
A few days later at Hogwarts...
Minerva and Poppy entered the headmaster's office, glad to have been able to catch the Headmaster, since he recently hardly spent any time at the school but was frantically searching the British magical world for a seven-year-old.
"Minerva, Poppy," the Headmaster said in surprise, tiredly stroking his long, white beard. "What gives me the pleasure of your presence?"
Minerva and Poppy exchanged a quick look, before Minerva spoke up. "Albus, I have an invitation to a magical school in Japan to teach a summer course for Animagus Transformation, and I'd like to accept the invitation. Therefore, I'll be absent from the twentieth of July until the end of August. I'll be back a few days before the beginning of the new school year, and Poppy is going to travel together with me."
"I see that you've already made up your mind," Dumbledore replied sadly. "I had hoped you could help me with the search for Harry."
Poppy rolled her eyes in exasperation. "Albus, please think about it. Minerva and I warned you a long time ago. We told you more than once how badly the Dursleys were treating Harry and recommended to take him away from them. It's your fault that he saw fit to run away or whatever he did, assuming that it wasn't his uncle, who did already try to kill him six months ago. It's your fault that the boy had no one to turn to, because you forbade Minerva and me from looking after him. No Albus, I'm sorry, but we can't help you in this matter."
Minerva was just about to take pity of the old wizard, who was slumped in his seat in devastation, when Poppy resolutely pulled her out of the room. "No Minnie, it's his fault that Harry nearly died, and that more than once. We can be glad that Severus saved his life. Albus definitely doesn't need to be cuddled over the apparent disappearance of Harry Potter."
"You're right, Poppy. Very well then; let's go to The Ink Pot to buy a few presents for Severus and Sirius," Minerva replied, quickly making up her mind.
"The Ink Pot? Why not just Flourish and Blotts in Hogsmeade?" Poppy queried in surprise.
Minerva chuckled. "I know that Severus is keeping a wiz2wiz connection with the owner of The Ink Pot. He is a wizard, although people wouldn't easily know considering that he is the owner of a muggle bookshop. Anyway, he knows exactly what books Severus ordered recently and might be able to give us suggestions for presents to bring to Severus and Sirius," Minerva explained as she waved her wand at her friend and herself to transfigure their clothes into muggle attire.
Poppy immediately agreed with her friend's arguments, and the two witches left the castle to spend the rest of the day in London.
At the Mirai school...
"A teacher from Hogwarts will probably come to teach Transfiguration during the holidays," Sirius told Kenji in excitement. "Is it usual that they have classes here during the holidays?"
Kenji chuckled. "I know that this is different outside of Japan, but in Japan holidays are not as they are elsewhere. During the last year, Kazumi and I attended a muggle primary school, but during the holidays everyone still came to the school each day. We just didn't officially have classes; that's all."
"I love that. It would be quite lonely if everyone was away like during the week before the beginning of the school year, only that it would be for more than a month this time," Sirius replied thoughtfully. "Nevertheless, I'll be glad when the first two weeks of the holidays are over and the Japanese class ends, so that we can spend the rest of the holidays together. I hope I'll pass the test," he added quietly.
"You will," Kenji replied, smiling. "Didn't you notice that we hardly ever speak English anymore? You have both improved a lot, you and Mandy."
"Thank you," Sirius said, giving his friend a grateful look, before a thought that had been bothering him for a while forced itself to the surface of his mind. "I have a question," he began hesitantly. "In our Japanese class, we learned a lot about Japanese culture and the Japanese mentality, but here at the school, everyone behaves just as they behaved at Hogwarts..." He slowly trailed off.
Kenji thoughtfully cleared his throat. "That's true. As you know, my Dad spent quite a while abroad and is very Western oriented. That's why our school is not typical of a Japanese school."
Later in the evening, Sirius discussed the same topic with his father. "As far as I know from Japanese magical schools that I visited for Potions congresses, what your friend told you is true. On the other hand, there are a few differences to Hogwarts, like for example, the fact that the school doesn't close over the holidays or that the head teachers look after their students much more here. Sometimes, I get the impression as if the students were 'babied' by their teachers."
Sirius chuckled. "We're not babies," he protested, amused. He turned around upon hearing an alert that a wiz2wiz message had arrived.
A small smile played on Severus' lips as he informed him, "Minerva and Poppy are going to arrive tomorrow. We'll contact you through the wiz2wiz, or I will send them to your room when they're free to meet you."
Sirius chuckled again. "Knowing the Abes, they probably won't be free, because they'll 'baby' them until they're ready to fall into bed."
Severus grinned. "That might be true."
本屋さんでの偶然の出会い
Fortunately, the Abes understood that Sirius wanted to meet Minerva and Poppy as well and invited the two newcomers as well as Severus and the first year quartet into their quarters, so that Sirius had enough time to speak with the two ladies from Hogwarts.
'As much as I like being here, I really missed them,' Sirius thought when he went to bed later on. 'Pity that they're only here over the summer.'
The summer holidays passed quickly and were much busier than Sirius had expected. Even when the Japanese class was finally over, the Abes and Healer Ito took turns taking the small group of foreigners for sightseeing day trips to different places all over Japan. They visited many temples and shrines along with the huge zoo in Tokyo, more beautiful temples in Kyoto, the oldest Japanese capital Nara, where hundreds of deer strolled freely around the city, and the shrine island of Miyajima with the huge Torii standing in the sea.
After these day trips, Mami Abe always stayed a little longer in Kenji's and Sirius' room when she came to say good night to allow Sirius the chance to speak with her if he had questions or wanted to talk about something he had seen, and Sirius often took the opportunity to ask questions.
After the last of the day trips at the end of the holidays, Mami sat on the edge of his bed for a while. "Now tell me Sirius, what was the most interesting thing you saw, or what did you like most?"
Sirius let out a long sigh. "That's difficult," he said thoughtfully. "Maybe it was one of the small gardens in Kyoto, hmm... or Miyajima. No," he suddenly interrupted himself. "It was something else. You know, when you took me to Tokyo before the beginning of the holidays. I loved these Tanabata trees."
Kenji laughed. "Yeah Mum, that was great!"
Mami watched the two excited boys in amusement. In Japan, on the seventh of July, there was a festival called Tanabata, and everywhere around the town bamboo bushes were decorated, on which people could hang small papers, to which they had written their wishes. By chance, the Abes had taken the twins and Mandy and Sirius to Tokyo on the day before Tanabata, and at Kinokuniya, one of the large bookshops, the children had written one piece of paper each and had added it to the huge tree within the shop. She smiled at the memory of how eager the four children had written their slips of paper.
"Maybe we should have a Tanabata tree here at the school next year. I'll speak to the headmaster about it. Now, will the two of you tell me what you wished for, or is that a secret?" she asked gently, looking curiously at Sirius and Kenji.
"I wished to become a teacher and always be good friends with Kazumi, Mandy and Sirius," Kenji admitted readily, causing Mami and Sirius to smile.
"I wrote..." Sirius' expression darkened visibly as he slowly trailed off.
"What is it?" Mami asked softly. "You don't have to tell us if you don't want to though."
"I want to..." A single tear stole itself onto Sirius' cheek.
tbc...
Thank you so much for your kind reviews!